“This hospital will never be a burden on Tate County taxpayers.”
Those were the words of Josh Hammons, Highland Hills Medical Center Chief Executive Officer, as a response to negative social media posts concerning the county’s purchase of the hospital.
Although media outlets have been quick to point out the dire situation affecting a large portion of Mississippi’s rural hospitals, Highland Hills has been exceeding expectations on earnings and is uniquely positioned to continue showing profits and not become a burden taxpayers must shoulder.
Last month, Governor Tate Reeves announced two hospital payment initiatives which could generate almost $700 million annually in additional Medicaid funds for Mississippi’s hospitals.
According to Mississippi Division of Medicaid’s website, the first initiative, an amendment to the existing Mississippi Hospital Access Program (MHAP), will provide direct payments to hospitals serving patients in the Mississippi Medicaid managed care delivery system. With these directed payments, hospitals would be reimbursed near the average commercial rate, which has been considered the federal ceiling for Medicaid reimbursements in managed care.
The second initiative will supplement Medicaid base payment rates for hospitals by reimbursing inpatient and outpatient hospital services in the fee-for-service system up to the Medicare upper payment limit.
This payment mechanism, known as a UPL, is calculated similarly to the one-time emergency payment of $137 million that hospitals received through Mississippi Medicaid earlier this calendar year.
The initiatives must be approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services before going to into effect with a retroactive date of July 1, 2023.
Under current procedures, Highland Hills stands to earn $3,817,087, but if the initiatives are approved the amount jumps to $8,427,798- a difference of $4,610,711.
However, Hammons, said the figure is not exactly accurate.
“The problem with these numbers is because they are based off of numbers when we first opened and had a low census. We’ve grown and our average census has grown so the repayment isn’t as up to date as it should be. Eventually they’ll [Medicaid] catch up to an accurate census,” said Hammons.
The hospital is on track for profits with the addition of the Women’s Center. Tate County is home to 7,500 women aged 40 and above.
With recommendations of annual mammography’s and bone density tests every two years, the need for services in Tate County was clear.
Prior to the opening of the center, Tate Countians were forced to drive out of the area to receive the care they needed.
The center is complete with a top-rated Fuji Film Aspire Cristalle 3D mammography system. The machine not only uses a low dose x-ray and produces higher quality images, but perhaps most importantly uses new and improved comfort paddles.
Since a major determinant for women to receive mammograms is the uncomfortable nature of the procedure, the comfort paddles aim to make the process as easy as possible to encourage maintaining routine exams.
In addition to the latest in technology that offers the comfort to the patients, the atmosphere created in the Women’s Center is very soft and soothing.
Warm, soft mauve curtains and beautiful, white-washed furniture, along with tasteful artwork and wall decorations accent the walls coated in soft pink.
“The investment of mammography equipment for Highland Hills provides technology in the detector that is the best in the industry,” said Karlie Cotter, Women’s Center technologist. “It provides a very sharp, clear concise image that allows radiologists to see breast cancers easier and earlier,” she added.
Since the Women’s Center opening, the hospital has seen 577 women. The hospital has diagnosed 10 cases of breast cancer.
“You can’t put a price on saving lives. Those are 10 women who we have helped save from further illness,” said Hammons.
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Highland Hills is hosting a Pink Out Day Thursday, Oct. 19.
The Women’s Center will offer extended hours operating from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Special pink treats and sweets will be served in addition to door prizes.
To help with patient services the hospital offers same day screening and patient record release signing which means once record release forms are signed, the hospital can pull medical records from previous exams and perform the screening in the same day.
To schedule an appointment with Karlie call 662-612-0477.
